Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Statement: All certified accountants at the firm have passed the CPA exam. Maria is a certified accountant at the firm. Conclusion: Maria has passed the CPA exam.
- The conclusion follows (Correct answer)
- The conclusion does not follow
- The conclusion is probably true
- More information is needed
Correct answer: The conclusion follows
The conclusion follows necessarily because all certified accountants have passed the CPA exam and Maria is one of them.
Question 2: Statement: Some managers in the department are also project leads. All project leads attend weekly stand-ups. Conclusion: All managers in the department attend weekly stand-ups.
- The conclusion follows
- The conclusion does not follow (Correct answer)
- The conclusion is certainly true
- The conclusion is partially true
Correct answer: The conclusion does not follow
Only 'some' managers are project leads, so we cannot conclude that ALL managers attend stand-ups.
Question 3: Statement: No company that reported losses last quarter received a performance bonus. Firm X received a performance bonus. Conclusion: Firm X did not report losses last quarter.
- The conclusion does not follow
- The conclusion follows (Correct answer)
- The conclusion is probably false
- The conclusion is irrelevant
Correct answer: The conclusion follows
By contrapositive logic, if receiving a bonus means no losses were reported, then Firm X did not report losses.
Question 4: Statement: Employees who complete the safety training are eligible for fieldwork assignments. Not all employees complete the safety training. Conclusion: Some employees are not eligible for fieldwork assignments.
- The conclusion follows (Correct answer)
- The conclusion does not follow
- The conclusion is an assumption
- The conclusion contradicts the statement
Correct answer: The conclusion follows
Since not all employees complete training and only those who do are eligible, some employees must be ineligible.
Question 5: Statement: Recent surveys show that employees who take regular breaks report higher job satisfaction. Conclusion: Mandating regular breaks will increase every employee's job satisfaction.
- The conclusion follows from the evidence
- The conclusion does not follow because correlation does not imply universal causation (Correct answer)
- The conclusion is definitely false
- The conclusion is equivalent to the statement
Correct answer: The conclusion does not follow because correlation does not imply universal causation
Survey correlation between break-taking and satisfaction does not guarantee that mandating breaks will universally raise satisfaction.
Question 6: Statement: Only applicants who hold a bachelor's degree will be interviewed. James was interviewed. Conclusion: James holds at least a bachelor's degree.
- The conclusion follows (Correct answer)
- The conclusion does not follow
- The conclusion requires additional data
- The conclusion is an inference, not a fact
Correct answer: The conclusion follows
Since only degree-holders are interviewed and James was interviewed, James must hold at least a bachelor's degree.
Question 7: Statement: The hospital's readmission rates fell after implementing a new discharge protocol. No other changes were made during that period. Conclusion: The new discharge protocol caused the reduction in readmission rates.
- The conclusion does not follow
- The conclusion follows logically (Correct answer)
- The conclusion is an opinion
- The conclusion restates the statement
Correct answer: The conclusion follows logically
Because no other changes were made, the protocol is the most logically supported cause of the observed reduction.
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers 3
Statement: All certified accountants at the firm have passed the CPA exam.
Maria is a certified accountant at the firm.
Conclusion: Maria has passed the CPA exam.